A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 53: Discussion

Tsabdrin looked confused at this information, but remained deferential as he brought the conversation back to what he was ordered to share. "I'll certainly write everything I know about all that before we get to the entrance of the Underdark." At least it would give him something to do other than eat, sleep, and exercise.

"Right now, the other males are biding their time as far as I know. Gathering lost resources, replenishing numbers with the breeding program, building armies, that sort of thing. They won't be of any danger to us while we're up here. They've already established their power, and most have already fallen under Duagmyr's Patronage - not that they officially know the true nature of how Duskhaven's current leader came into power. The last census put us at around ten thousand denizens of Duskhaven proper who have pledged, but the manor itself is down to fifty servants and guards." Tsabdrin explained. "There used to be twice that in the manner, and a good five thousand more people within the city. Most left, but a hell of a lot died as well."

"Goddess..." Ashyr murmured softly.

"Is... there anything else you need to know right now?" Tsabdrin asked as he looked from one person to the other.

Caleldir looked rather surprised, turning to Ashyr with newfound respect. "I had no idea Duskhaven was so populous." He breathed. "I had thought it to be the equivalent of a small Barony at most: not an entire County. Quite impressive. The Underdark was not near populated enough in my day to have cities of that size. Only the capital exceeded that number, and no other settlement came close. It is clear that drow population has been growing far faster than anticipated these last twelve hundred years. Combined with Port Afron, we will have pretty powerful base for further expansions." The literal glow of ambition was back in Caleldir's eyes, making him look extremely intimidating to those not used to him.

Ashyr clearly appreciated the glow. It was... arousing, somehow. "Yes, Duskhaven is quite large, second only to the Capital. The quick story is that a thousandish years ago, my grandmother, Ashnathyr Duskhaven ni'Everhviir, established the city, naming it and renaming herself in the process. I guess she was the equivalent of a drow hero for her efforts repelling the Great Undead Invasion. That was why she was granted permanent charge of the protection of the lands for her and her progeny after. It was some very impressive social maneuvering against the queen at the time. A good portion of the people who lived in the main city split off and moved farther up the caverns to form Duskhaven, which now serves as the first line of protection for the drow lands. Hence the name. Thus, the family of Duskhaven and the city itself was founded... or at least that's what I remember from the history lessons." Ashyr explained. "If you want something more in-depth, or to ask how our numbers exploded as they did, you'll want to talk to Selene. She pays attention to books and lectures."

Caleldir listened to her description of Duskhaven with an impressed look. "All that is good to know." He rubbed his hands together. "A potent base indeed." The glee in his face showed that he had learned zero lessons from his nation's fate. There was little doubt that he nursed every bit as much ambition as the rest of his people had.

Chagrin entered Ashyr's expression. "It would have been a decade or so ago; now city and House aren't doing well apparently. How much breeding are the males doing?"

As Ashyr spoke, Tsabdrin finally began eating his own food. He moved slowly, though, as if his heart wasn't entirely into it, or if the task itself was tiring. "I don't know much about the breeding program, but I do know we can expect far too many young within the next two years from all their efforts."

The glow of ambition around Caleldir dimmed. "The shrinking of the populace is something that we will have to stop as soon as possible. The fact that Duskhaven is bleeding inhabitants at such a rate makes its recapture much more urgent. But we still have to move on Port Afron first. So, as far as I know, that is all we need to know for now. This 'breeding program' of which you speak, if your sister is at all indicative of the methods, is an abomination that must be halted, but I doubt that it will bear any fruit before we retake the estate. Babies take some time to turn into soldiers."

"It's something we'll have to figure out after we get everything back to how it should be." Ashyr said with a sigh. She wasn't even matron yet and she was already thinking of the ramifications of the Duskhaven Males' actions that she herself would have to deal with. "We have so many other problems to solve first. I don't even know how we're going to get you down there without you becoming a huge target."

A thought occurred to Caleldir, and he gave Ashyr a questioning look. "Would it be helpful if I became a drow? Althaia still has that Ring of Race: I could transmute myself into your clone if you wanted me to. Turning myself into a drow - male, preferably, although female could be useful too - might simplify things in the Underdark. We could then just claim that Althaia was our slave, and nobody would suspect that we are actually a mostly good(ish)-aligned group of adventurers who are shamefully lax on following Lolth's laws."

"That's a good idea." Ashyr agreed. "Our people as a whole are woefully racist. They'll take you more seriously as a drow. I don't know about going all the way to turning you female, though. It is a male-dominant city now," Her nose crinkled at the strangeness of that thought. "It might even be dangerous to be female."

Caleldir considered what Ashyr said. "I had not thought of that. But that makes perfect sense. Then again, it will be far more dangerous to be female and Duskhaven than just normal female, so you and Selene may have some problems."

"Yeah, what with the breeding programs, they could be snatching up any drow with an empty womb. Though they hadn't quite resorted to that yet, last I knew." Tsabdrin added. His expression was guarded as he said this. Either that, or he was too busy focusing on the food in front of him. He didn't eat as much as Ashyr or Caleldir, but there was still a good portion of food that had been on his plate and was now consumed.

Tsabdrin's words caused Caleldir to shiver. "That... that would be awful." He shivered. Somehow, Caleldir had found the time to finish up his rather large meal, despite doing more taking than the other two put together. "No matter how many young we are talking, it seems unlikely that the numbers will even come close to replacing the losses the estate has suffered. So, at very least, we should have the resources to properly feed them. More than enough, if we also claim Port Afron. Which is a pretty large city even by surface standards, as I recall. I would have had no hope of taking it, except we have enough Lost Technology and potent artifacts to make us each worth a small army on our own." He took a final swig of mead. "And, on that note, shall we awaken Selene and begin our march? Since our Spider is in the shop, it seems we will have to go on foot."

"No, we will not." Althaia said cheerfully, popping into the dining room. "It never came up before, but I looted some nifty figurines from the monastery. They should provide convenient mounts."

The male drow stood, looking uncomfortable. This meant he was going back into confinement, and he wasn't too happy about it on principal. He eyes fell back on the improbably beautiful nymph. "The monastery?" He questioned. Not that he cared all that much, but he wanted to delay the inevitable. His manner towards her was still quite deferential - mostly because he was pretty sure she could beat him to a literal pulp. In fact, the only person he acted with any sort of easiness towards was Ashyr.

The nymph turned to Tsabdrin, smiling stunningly. Not literally, this time, although on some men it would likely have the same effect. "A nice place full of nice monks. And a mad, cursed, artificial, half-born goddess."

Tsabdrin blinked up at the paladin, for a moment forgetting his deferential act. "A... huh?"

"It was most certainly not a nice place." Said Selene's groggy, grumpy voice as she exited the room she had been sleeping in. Her eyes were a bit heavy with recent sleep, but the rest of her was her normal, immaculately groomed self. "There was a poisoner giant that ground people's legs and had minions made of acid, murderous sixty foot mechanisms, and crazy fetchlings who can rip memories from minds and steal the unborn from the womb." She did not look directly at her brother, though her words were obviously meant for him. As it usually did, her hand went to her stomach when she spoke of the child snatching.

The nymph found Selene's complaining to be incredibly amusing for a few moments, before simply staring off into the distance with a dreamy look on her face. "Yeah, all those things are what made it so fun..." she trailed off.

Selene ignored Althaia. Finally, she looked toward him, and her crimson eyes drilled into his with anger, pride, and defiance. "And we defeated them."

The male drow could not hold his sister's gaze when she looked at him like that. She was quite a bit terrifying and there was no way he'd risk angering her. Instead, his eyes caught the motion of her hand possessively gripped at her stomach. He stared at that hand for quite a while. "That place does sound awful." He agreed. "Selene... ah. You should know that I regret my part in... what they did to you. I never would have brought you back in if I knew what was going to happen." Tsabdrin found himself compelled to say next, though his voice was very soft. "They succeeded, didn't they?" And there was a hint very real regret in his voice. Of course, that regret could easily be the contrition of a captive who didn't want their captors to have any more reason to hurt them.

"As you should." Selene responded haughtily. "They did succeed, but they were fools who did not get exactly what they wanted. They helped create a daughter more powerful than they could imagine, and it isn't even theirs." She began to approach him as she spoke. Finally, she took his chin and forced his sapphire eyes to meet her ruby. She only had a couple inches on her brother, but she seemed to loom above him. "For everything they do to us, we will take and twist to our own benefit. They. Cannot. Possibly. Win." Then she let his chin go - a little more roughly than necessary - and turned away from him.

While his 'cousin' was in fond remembrance, Caleldir was watching and listening to the interactions between the Selene and her brother. This was not a scene he particularly wanted to witness, but it was necessary to do so in the end. It warmed his heart to see how much she clearly valued their unborn child. He did wonder how Tsabdrin would take the 'it is not even theirs'. As far as he could tell, Selene had not given any real indication as to whose daughter it was. "Selene is correct." He assured her brother. "We went to the Monastery in part to use an ancient artifact that allowed us to divine the identity of the child in Selene's womb. A daughter, whose father is not of Duskhaven, who would become a Paragon. Sadly, unless we are willing to wait eight years for our attack, I sincerely doubt that the aforesaid daughter will be of much use. Those of the Duskhaven Men who are deserving of justice will see it long before that."

"But whose... how..." Tsabdrin asked. He looked like he was giving himself a headache between his sister's intimidation and the confusing message of the words themselves. He shifted his weight toward his cousin, and gave her a sidelong look as if she would both protect him and explain what was going on.

Ashyr, however, was watching Selene very carefully for signs of any emotional distress beyond her usual grumpiness after just waking up. She completely ignored her male cousin.

"It's his." Selene responded to his question with a catlike smile. She looked toward Caleldir as she said this. He seemed to be trying to go along with the idea that she didn't want everyone to know that he was her child's sire. She appreciated the attempt at solidarity, but it hadn't been her intention to go out of her way to hide the truth. It had been worth it to say, she found, when she saw the look of bafflement on her brother's face.

So. Selene just straight-up admitted that he was the father of her child, Caleldir mused. Great, now Tsabdrin knew that he was sleeping with both drow. Give him a few minutes and...

"If I do not have a child by Caleldir too, it is not for lack of trying!" Althaia interjected, a glow of mischief on her face.

... The male drow would know that he also was in the habit of sleeping with the nymph. Yes. That would happen. Caleldir smacked his forehead. When they had first met Althaia, she had seemed so reliable and controlled in comparison to the other nymphs. That was probably the problem: In comparison to the other nymphs. Objectively, Althaia was... well, herself. But that was not all that important right now. The important thing was that it irked him for Tsabdrin to know how many women he regularly slept with. He was still rather ashamed of how many that was, in the moments that he was forced to think on it. The him of a few months ago would be disgusted.

It would be unkind in the extreme to lead any of those three to realize what he was thinking, though, so he remained as stoic as possible. He sort of missed the days when his tales of all the romances that he turned down, and all the wildly improbable adventures he went on, were either outright fabrications or at very least poetic exaggerations. Nowadays, the truth of the matter was far more interesting, and his stories had suffered as a result. He hardly even told them anymore. Why, he acted serious pretty much all the time. He needed Gurzan to hang with again: someone to be his straight man so he could be the zany one again.

"I made sure of it." Caleldir replied to Tsabdrin's question about them looking drow. "Honestly, I can make them look like almost anything if I want to, but I admit I have a liking for the aristocratic drow aesthetic."

Ashyr clearly found the exchange to be awkward and uncomfortable; it was time to change the subject. "Talk about the Monastery reminded me; I picked up a mask from that treasure room, too." Ashyr told them as she stood. "Looked important, but I didn't know what it did. So I put it in my storage space. Someone with more magical sense can look at it."

Caleldir looked concerned. "Wait. A mask. Can you describe it for me? Perhaps a nondescript thing that is grey and somewhat translucent?" He looked rather concerned. "If so, you should know that that is a very, very powerful artifact. The Mask of Doppelganger, it is called. It is not surprising that 'Caleldra' would have had it. But..." He closed his eyes. "It is cursed. You can use that to turn into a exact duplicate of someone: up to and including their personality and abilities (and to a lesser extent, their memories). The disguise is perfect enough to fool a god. But unless you have a will of freakin adamantium, which allows you to use your powers and mind in addition to those of the person you're copying, the borrowed personality will overwrite your own until you forget your real identity and become the mask. If that happens, you are lost, as the mask bonds itself to your very soul. The only way to break the curse is either to be killed and resurrected, or to see your reflection in the divine artifact, The Mirror of Truth. Unless we have that, we should never use the artifact. The effect is so strong, only Althaia has any hope of resisting it. And even she might have difficulty without help."

Althaia's eyes glinted. "Sounds like a wild ride."

"Huh. Well then, it was a good thing I didn't put it on." Ashyr responded. She didn't look too worried about it. It did, however, seem like a useful thing to have in the future.

"Anyway, I have some mounts for you three to select." Althaia said. "Personally, I think that Caleldir would be most happy on the shadow steed, Ashyr on the black direwolf, and Selene on the monstrous spider." She threw each of those people a small figurine of the animal mentioned.

"Shadow steed?" Caleldir asked.

"A horse with black hair." Althaia explained.

"So, I am the boring one then." Caleldir complained.

"Well... yes." Althaia shrugged. "The other option is the chocobo: which is sort of like a giant ostrich chicken. Or a ram. Or a lizard. Or a unicorn."

"I will stick with the horse." Caleldir assented. He turned away. "R.I.S.A., we are about ready to exit. Please take good care of Tsabdrin while we are out."

Ashyr caught the direwolf figurine that was tossed at her. "A direwolf, eh? That sounds fun." She said with a feral grin. Then she opened the portal back up and wandered out of it, still gazing at the figurine. Ashyr didn't worry about Tsabdrin bolting out, and for good reason; he simply stood and watched as the others began to leave.

Selene inspected her own figurine. "Yes. Far better than those herd animals you ride." The mage agreed as she followed Ashyr out.

Meanwhile, Tsabdrin was contemplating the subject that was more interesting to him. Tsabdrin didn't seem at all surprised by the revelation a few minutes ago that Caleldir coupled with all three of the women he traveled with. After all, he knew Ashyr and her tastes. If anything, he looked envious. When he thought none of them were looking, he gave the backsides of both Ashyr and Althaia a long, contemplative look. Caleldir was probably - no, definitely the luckiest male in all the realm, and he didn't even have the decency to look thankful. Tsabdrin couldn't even begin to grasp how the other male truly felt about it.

"Lucky asshole..." The drow male grumbled under his breath when the portal closed behind the rest of the party. He immediately dropped his morosely deferential attitude in favor of simply being morose and waited for everyone to come back.